How To Create A Great YouTube Channel For Your Music School

YouTube is a platform that’s growing exponentially. With almost 7,20,000 hours of content uploaded on the platform every day, it has become a global hub for viewing video content online and has very few competitors in the industry. In the past decade, it has also started incentivizing uploading videos on the platform. This has given birth to many dedicated video creators on the platform, many of whom use the revenue from Youtube Ads to create a good and comfortable living for themselves.

In this era of the pandemic, various technologies continue to influence teaching methods.. Zoom and Microsoft Teams have become the lifelines of online classes, and online proctored exams have made their way into normalcy. But since technology is being used for all kinds of work, the question that arises is - is there all there is to it? Can it be used for leisure as well? The answer is yes. In a world dominated by lockdowns and quarantines, schools and other institutions have made various Youtube channels to keep their members engaged and active in the comfort of their homes. On top of that, you have a plethora of tools at your disposal, such as Video Maker for Youtube, sound editor for audio, and filters for creating camera effects.

Why does a music school need a YouTube channel?

1. New Endeavors
2. Reduce the effort of teachers
3. Breaks the monotony

Offline classes were a mixture of study and fun. These classes promoted healthy engagement of mind into creative hobbies and created scenarios for interaction and collaboration between classmates. 

But since most classes have shifted into the online gear, they have lost their leisurely touch, making them almost redundant. 

A Youtube channel will be able to help music schools regain its leisurely aura and add value to the music school experience.

1. New Endeavors

Efforts to explore new avenues have always been welcomed by students as a source of curiosity and discovery. 

New facilities pique the interest of students, and a YouTube channel would be the perfect avenue for them to learn about music and explore their interests from their homes. 

On top of that, parents will also be able to help their children with them since it is a fairly easy platform to use and monitor.

2. Reduce the efforts of teachers

It is no news that online classes can never replace traditional classrooms. 

Weak connections and power fluctuations plague us every day and cause numerous disruptions in online classes. This inevitably results in students missing out on a part of or sometimes the entire lesson.

Now, rather than asking a teacher to teach the entire lesson again, a copy of the original can be uploaded to the channel in a separate playlist. 

This will allow students to go through anything they might have missed and also provide them with the option to revisit a previous lesson and practice at any time they like..

3. Breaks the monotony

Using a YouTube channel to engage students will have the added benefit of using a platform that they are already familiar with. 

Regular meeting platforms such as Zoom, Gmeet, etc., have become correlated with classes for students, and adding Youtube to the mix will give them a sense of familiarity and keep them in their comfort zone. 

It will also give them the motivation to be excited about their classes and look forward to attending these sessions.

How to create your YouTube channel?

Now that the decision to create the channel has been taken, it’s time to get down to work. Youtube has made the whole process of channel creation and uploading of videos very convenient. 

It has been tailored to provide the least resistance possible and provides simple steps for setting up the whole operation. Let us see the entire process that is to be followed.

The first thing needed in the whole process is a Gmail account. It is recommended that you do not use a personal account for the process, as its access might need to be shared with other people too. 

You can create a separate business account or use one generated for the music school. This will have the benefit of having backdoor access in case of your absence from the scene.

You need to decide what activities shall be permitted on your Youtube channel.

• Likes allow your audience to rate whether a video is to their liking or not. This will help you to get an idea of the popularity of your videos and help you to improve future videos.
• Comments give your audience to post comments on the channel. Comments are a good way to engage and talk to your audience while at the same time, collect detailed feedback.
• Favorites allow your audience to add a video to their list of favorite videos. This feature does not add much except give viewers an option to quickly access your video whenever they want.
• Subscribe is simply an option for a viewer to follow your channel and be notified of all of your further activity. Every subscriber to your channel could potentially be a regular viewer of your videos.
  

Freely decide what activity will be permitted on your channel. Do note that these preferences can be changed later on as well.

Your Youtube videos can be public, private, or unlisted. A public video can be viewed by anyone who googled it or visited your page. Most videos are generally public.

Private videos are on your page, but they can only be viewed through invites. And on top of that, all viewers must also have Youtube accounts as well.

Unlisted videos are those which will not show up on a Google search and not even on the page of your channel. They can also only be viewed via invites but do not require a viewer to have an account.

How do you make the videos?

Now we come to the most crucial part: Creating the videos.

Contrary to popular belief, making videos is a very easy and enjoyable task to do. And rather than having high-end equipment, you can easily get started with your phone. All videos can be broken down into a few fundamentals that complete a video.

Lights

Lights here do not necessarily mean big floodlights and intricate use of shadows. It simply means that the location of your video shoots should be a well-lit environment. 

It can be in your music studio, a sun-facing room, or a well-lit hall. Good lighting ensures that all components of your video are visible and do not get lost in the processing. 

But keep in mind to keep most of your shooting time reserved for the day as the evening brings with it shadows, which can create needless headaches for you. In case you need to shoot in the evening or in a darker space, using technology like ring lights and LED bulbs can help you maintain a high video quality.

Camera

There was a time when video-worthy cameras were rare and very expensive to purchase. But thankfully, almost all modern smartphones have a camera that is suitable for video shooting. 

In fact, a lot of smartphones have features such as a 60 Hz refresh rate and 4K video recording. Such features help in bridging the gap between a newcomer and a professional. Hence, no need for an expensive camera as your phone will suffice.

Sound

The biggest problem in modern videography is sound. 

Since all professional cameras usually come equipped with a microphone and phones do not, the audio in the final video often comes out to be different from the one that was present during the recording. 

So to curb this problem, it is advisable to buy a separate microphone, and then the video can be edited later on. 

If buying a new microphone does not seem prudent, then a hack to this problem is the presence of a separate phone. 

This second phone can be kept in an upper pocket (of either a shirt or inside a coat), with the voice recorder switched on. The second phone will record all audio present which can be later used as per the requirement.

Action!

Now get down to recording your idea and let those creative juices flow. Remember that this is a new step for everyone and that every channel starts with the first subscriber. 

There is no right or wrong to creativity, and especially on Youtube, it is the creative and out-of-the-ordinary ideas that make it to the screens of a million viewers. 

After you have completed the above steps, review them according to your plans and put them in a youtube video editor tool for processing. To give your videos the look and feel you want, you can use YouTube Video editor. 

The software will allow you to access a significant number of avenues for editing the final look of your videos. 

Once the final cut is done, upload your video to Youtube and see how it fares with your audience.

What to post on your YouTube Channel?

As a Youtube channel whose main audience is the students of your music school, there are a lot of things that can be posted on your channel.

Lessons

The lessons that were taught in your music classes can be recorded and directly posted on the channel. 

Alternatively, music lessons can be recorded beforehand just for posting on the channel, with live doubt classes for the students.

Uploading classes will create an easier path for the children to practice systematically.

Tutorials

The pandemic has had the biggest impact on the practical aspects of teaching. Tutorials for various aspects of their performance can be recorded and posted on the channel to cover this gap. 

While not a complete replacement, these tutorials will facilitate the easy conductance of practicals once the situation clears up, as all students should already be well-versed with what they need to do.‍

Competitions

Online platforms are a great place to hold competitions. While Youtube may not be suitable for conducting such competitions, it is certainly useful in broadcasting them to a wider audience. 

Various singing, dancing, and music production competitions can be conducted live or the footage uploaded to YouTube to generate interest in your music school..

Functions

A large number of music school events can be streamed on the YouTube channel as well. 

Annual functions, inaugurations, prize distribution, and many more can be displayed on the Youtube channel for students and parents alike.

Announcements

Announcements related to the school’s rules, parents, covid guidelines, and students’ welfare can be put up on the YouTube channel. This will send these announcements to a large chunk of students and be stored in a safe place to be viewed later as well.

Guidelines for the future

Now that you have a fully-functional YouTube channel, you can start planning for the future. Be sure to keep your videos posted regularly. 

This will increase your reach and also give a good impression on parents who might venture now and then. 

A team can also be set up to overlook the functioning of the YouTube channel.

Along the way, students can be added to the mix as well. Since all students have a unique talent, they can use this channel to explore new avenues such as recording, editing, or singing. 

They will also be able to come up with new ideas for the channel and execute them with the help of the teachers. This will give a boost to their imagination and creativity. And who knows? Someone might even be able to make this into a successful career and do what they love for a living.

The scope for a YouTube channel is huge, and all it will require is some effort and a desire to do something new in the time of need. And if you ever find it difficult to run the channel while keeping the rest of your operations organised, you can always automate and simplify your business to create a finer learning experience for your students!